STRAWBERRY HIBISCUS FROSE’

We know that rosé and frosé have been all the rage for the last few summers. You don’t have to try too hard to convince me that I should drink delicious French pink wine in the summer, let alone frozen! For weeks I’ve been trying to perfect a frosé recipe that’s easy to make at home. I had so many questions. How do I make frosé without a slushy machine but in a blender without over diluting with ice? A lot of recipes that I’ve found online require freezing the wine in sheet pans but I’ve come up with a more simple approach and I was inspired by the way I build my smoothie bowls!

I feel like the best smoothie bowl is one that requires no ice. Essentially you freeze all of your ingredients beforehand and then are just adding a liquid, like milk, to dilute it and incorporate all of your ingredients. That’s what I did with this frosé. I froze the wine into cubes and froze the strawberries before hand. Freezing the wine into cubes is also great because it let’s you control how much frosé you want to make, that way you’re not committing to consuming a whole bottle. You can make one serving, two, four or six. It’s up to you! So if you have a few ice cube trays, you can make the cubes ahead of time and basically be ready at any given moment to whip up some frosé! You can thank me later.

Pour your bottle of rosé into your ice cube trays, leaving a little room in each mold. Next top off your wine with about a 1/2 oz. of water in each mold. This will ensure the cubes freeze properly and also add some dilution when blending.

To make the hibiscus syrup, combine hibiscus flowers, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and heat over stove on low/medium. Simmer about 10 minutes and then turn off heat and let cool completely. Pour the syrup into a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl. Reserve the candied hibiscus flowers for garnish and pour your hibiscus syrup into a bottle or jar. This will keep up to two weeks refrigerated.

In the pitcher of your blender add 1 cup of frozen strawberries, lemon juice, hibiscus syrup and 6 rosé cubes (about a 1/2 bottle). Blend on high and pour into your desired serving vessel. The size of your glass will also determine how many people this recipe will serve. If you want to make one serving cut this recipe in half and if you want to serve six people, double it. I made this with one tray of cubes and had one tray left over. Garnish your frosé with an edible flower and candied hibiscus. You can also add fresh strawberries.

I’m so glad I decided to make hibiscus syrup and add it to this recipe. I’ve had strawberry and watermelon frosé but I wanted to come up with something slightly different that still complimented the flavor of the wine. It’s fruity, floral, tart and refreshing and the ruby red color of this drink made it so stunning to photograph. The consistency was perfect too, just smooth enough to drink it through a straw but thick enough to eat with a spoon. I used both! This would be great to make on a super hot day or to serve as boozy dessert at your next party. Think of all the possibilities with your leftover rosé ice cubes.